Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Swiss Court Confirms Swiss Space Systems Bankruptcy But CEO Jaussi Might Buy Assets and Start Over

          By Henry Stewart

Swiss Space Systems (S3), the European space company which once partnered with the City of North Bay in an attempt to launch a mini-space shuttle, has withdrawn its appeal to contest a bankruptcy judgement brought down by the Swiss canton of Vaud in December, 2016.

A "novel and incredibly economic concept," which ended up in bankruptcy court. S3 plans for its "mini-shuttle" were discussed in the All About Space UK Magazine Volume N14, 2013, Page 28-29. Graphic c/o All About Space.

As outlined in the January 17th, 2017 Orbiter.CH Space News post, "Swiss Space Systems: bankruptcy confirmed," the final S3 bankruptcy took effect on Monday 16th January at 16:15 local time, according to court documents.

At stake, at least in this jurisdiction, were numerous lawsuits exceeding 7Mln SFr ($9.29Mln CDN). But outside of the Vlad bankruptcy court, the European perception remains that S3 isn't quite dead yet. 

The January 24th, 2017 24heures.ch post, "Swiss Space Systems peut-elle redécoller depuis la Croatie?," has even reported on S3 CEO Pascal Jaussi's plan to save his company by buying up S3 assets and re-incorporating the company through a "Croatian subsidiary." 

Other European press reports have echoed this narrative and the situation at press time remains confused.
Editors Note: To complicate matters further and as outlined in the January 24th, 2017 Swissinfo.ch post, "Swiss Space Systems founder accused of ‘staging’ own attack," criminal charges have now been brought against Jaussi. We'll update this post as new information becomes available).
S3 CEO Pascal Jaussi isn't dead yet and neither is his company, at least if you're willing to take his word for it. But S3 is officially bankrupt and, as outlined in the September 7th, 2016 Sun post, "WHAT DOES HE KNOW? Swiss space agency boss is kidnapped by hitmen who beat him senseless then tried to burn him alive," it seems obvious that not everyone believes what Juassi says, as least  when it comes to his business dealings. Photo c/o Keystone.

As outlined in the December 20th, 2017 post, "Swiss Space Systems: Just 'Fugget About It!'" the S3 bankruptcy was the culmination of years of political wrangling and glad handling which included the development of an impressive global network of partners including Breitling, Thales Alenia Space, Dassault Aviation, Space Florida, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

In Canada, the City of North Bay, along with Canadore College were brought aboard through the efforts of North Bay Conservative MP Jay Aspin and Federal Industry Minister James Moore.
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Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer.

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